


Are you cool man?

by verycoolbeans_yes



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bad Boy Mike Wheeler, Chemistry tension, Dustin has crowned himself as the next King Steve, El is a cool cucumber, Lucas and Max are badass legends, Steve is such a mother hen, Troy needs a sweet friend like El, Will is sarcastic and funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-08-04 10:05:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16344731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verycoolbeans_yes/pseuds/verycoolbeans_yes
Summary: High school sucks but everything is better with with Will the wise and Dustin the moonwalker and the joined-at-the-hip badass Lumax. Troy Harrington isn't actually the A grade asshole he makes out to be and even Michael Wheeler doesn't spend his whole life being constantly stoned, just some of it. Steve Harrington is a 5 star mum who never lets anyone forget who the king is. And El is the Mage who just wants to get through high school and make everyone stop calling her 'Jane', except for Michael Wheeler, she doesn't mind it when he calls her Jane.





	1. Why rainbows?

"Wakey wakey Janey, rise and shine" a familiar, annoying voice weaselled its way into El's morning slumber. "The sun is shining out there like a big yellow shiny thing, just waiting for you to leap into the d-"

"shut up Steve!" El mumbled into her sheets as she flung her pillow at him. Her senses awakened as she squinted open one eye to see the pillow hit her unsuspecting target with a satisfying smack. 

"Well damn Jane!" 

Steve turned to eye his culprit beadily, his voluminous hair plastered across his shocked face 

"you can't just throw a pillow at me. You ruined my hair, that's at least 20 minutes of morning hair styling down the drain. Do you know how much Farrah Fawcett hair spray I use Jane? A LOT! I'm telling you, this is just not-" 

Once again, King Steve had began the long winded journey on one of his rants, and once he started there was no stopping the newly appointed police officer/mother hen/lecturer at the university of dickheads. On and on he went, about his hair spray. Bloody Steve and Farrah Fawcett.This was a typical morning in the Jim Hopper household.  
The chief would leave in the early hours of the morning for work in the city because he was a "bitchin cop" 

Steve's words not El's. 

Then because Steve was such a wannabe he would always make sure he was up earlier than El so he could wake her up by blasting his crap music and lifting weights in the living room. By this point El would be semi-awake until alarm clock Steve would disrupt the peacefulness in her room and chew off her ear with his incessant yakking. 

 

"Get dropped off by your mum again today?" 

It was Thursday, a good day, and the school day at Hawkins High

or Hawkins Prison,

had not yet begun so Will the wise and El filled in the time with idle chit chat. Will turned to his friend who was swinging on the bike racks, El grinned "He insisted on taking me to school buttt I admit I may or may not have been late" the glint in Will's eyes glimmered like El's golden hoops in the early morning sunlight,

"knew it. You were too busy drooling over the Duran Duran posters in your room" El sprung up from her upside down position 

"hey!" her brown hair cascading down her back with a sharp swoosh. 

"Kiss me Nick" Will whimpered, his lanky frame falling onto one knee, 

"shut it William or I'll hide your darts." William himself cocked an eyebrow, feigning shock "you wouldn't" El raised a manicured eyebrow back, 

"I know where you hide them pretty boy" and with that she linked arms with her friend and led them towards the crowded hallways of their high school.

The 11th grade at Hawkins high consisted of a bunch of teenage idiots. Driving teens on the edge of seventeen and puberty polluted the hallways, taping freshmen to their lockers was a recreational sport and so was partaking in the Monday morning gossip. El and Will ambled through the moving sea of students as they headed in the general direction of their friends, El stopping briefly to un-tape an unsuspecting weedy freshman from his locker. Dustin's hyena-like laugh was like a perfectly timed signal, drawing the pair towards the drink taps where Lucas and Max aka the powerhouse couple who held the school record for the most hallway makeout sessions, were watching Dustin unsuccessfully attempt the moon walk. The moon walker's fresh kicks squeaked across the linoleum floor as he flicked his shoulder declaring,

"I am, the greatest." Even though he was crap at moon walking, Dustin still managed to pull off some sort of estranged dance move with his sheer confidence. 

"How he manages to do that in the middle of the hallway is fucking beyond me" Lucas mused from beside El, who in turn replied 

"I bet its that Farrah Fawcett hairspray" Lucas who was smirking, was just about to reply when Dustin and his gravity defying quiff butted in 

"pardon me Siree but how can you question what I do when you take it upon yourself to stick your filthy tongue down Maxine's throat in the middle of these hallowed halls?" both Will and El sniggered at the disposition of their hairsprayed friend who was bouncing on his heels finally thinking he'd one upped Lucas, that was until Max replied 

"you're just jealous that I've got Mr 24/7 khaki pants, I know you secretly want him" she teased, swishing her curtain of red hair over her shoulder so she could reach up and wrap her arms around her boyfriend. Dustin huffed in reply, refusing to get off his high and mighty drama student podium as Will turned to El 

"he's not lying, Lucas can't get enough of that damn khaki" dimples appeared in El's cheek as she laughed in reply 

"cAmoFlage" Will's twig-like frame bent backwards as he pretended to be blown away by shock 

"wHoa, cAmOflAge, wHerE aRe LucAs' LeGs?" The two of them dissolved into a fit of giggles as the bell erupted through the hall. 

"I hear a faint ringing" mused Dustin, "come men, tis the bell of death that calls us to start thy day" and with that Dustin pulled Will by the strap of his backpack to their class.

 

El strolled into her classroom at 8:43. It was a nice time to enter homeroom, 3 minutes after the bell when there was a morning buzz in the air. She kicked her Converse out the front of her desk as she resumed her engraved art piece on the wooden desk. It was a work in progress. Originally, the piece was meant to be a dog, Will's dog Hetty. El had planned to finish carving Hetty in one weeks worth of homerooms however it turned out to be a mildly difficult task. For starters, El had to perfect the art of having a casual expression of boredom to mask her graffitiing activities from the teacher, and she had to try and not break Mike Wheeler's scissors which she had borrowed two terms ago (and never returned). On this particular Thursday morning, El was carving away like the experienced school desk vandal that she was, while casually listening to a nearby conversation. The converses of interest happened to be none other than Mike Wheeler and Troy Harrington, which in actual fact was slightly anti-climatic. The last time El had offhandedly heard one of their conversations Mike was asking Troy for advice about his broken bong, Troy had then proceeded to tease Mike about his clumsy feet being the cause of his no longe usable weed inhaler. The very interesting discussion had ended with them debating whether Stacy's tits looked better in a halter neck or a crop top. Today however, the two had moved on to a new topic, Tyler Green's new haircut.

"looks like someone hit him on the head with a pillow"

"he's probably trying to be exotic, go for the look from down under"

"one thing's for sure, old nest head won't be getting under a girl any time soon"

Then they both snickered like typical pubescent teenage boys. They were such little bitches, boys gossiped just as much as the girls. Take Steve for example, he was always butting in on El's social life being a nosy hair spray wearing twit. No wonder Troy and Steve were related. Despite the fact that his older brother spent half his time at the Jim Hopper household and was practically El’s older brother, El wouldn't exactly refer to Troy and herself as bosom buddies. Troy was like the king of 11th grade, he was hot, sporty, confident and had never picked on El, but that was because they had nothing to do with each other, period. Him and his posse of love struck girls and jocks plus his equally attractive partner in crime, Mike Wheeler, didn’t spend their time watching MTV at Dustin’s house on Tuesdays, or drive to the city to go to concerts. They spent their time playing football and getting high on the weekends. Well in Mike Wheeler's case he seemed high all the time or maybe he was just constantly suffering from extreme boredom. El couldn't tell which. Speaking of Mike Wheeler, it was only then, when she sneaked a glimpse up at the pair, did she notice how nice his freckles looked, instead of overwhelming his features, they were just dusted on like fairy dust.

Cute.

And that was that, no more time needed to be wasted pondering the extra curricular activities of Michael Wheeler, El had a carving to complete. Hetty was really coming along now, El's brown hair fell across her face as her nose scrunched up with the effort of scraping out the shape of the dog's ears. She was just about done the first ear when someone's leg knocked against the table causing the bong lord's scissors to scrape out much more desk than intended. El stopped and bit her lip scrutinising the now very abstract looking drawing, in actual fact Hetty looked like she had a stick coming out of her head like some sort of weird Frankenstein dog or one of Lucas' attempts at drawing cartoons. Actually, if she tilted her head at a particular angle, Hetty kind of looked like a Demodog.

Damn. Why would Will want a desk carving of a demodog? Her thoughts were interrupted by a surprisingly not quite broken voice, 

"Jane?" 

Her denim covered knee accidentally knocked against the underside of the table.

It was the bong lord, double damn.

El slowly turned her head up, quite a long way up, to meet the dark gaze of Michael Wheeler. 

“Yeah?” She cautioned, noticing just how tall the owner of her carving scissors was, especially when El was plonked beneath him like a sort of peasant.

“Do you have a led?” She looked at him, her neck feeling like it was on the verge of a spasm.

“Yeah” she replied. After a few moments El hadn’t moved an inch and she really couldn’t figure out why. This seemed to amuse Mike as he lazily bent down so he was level with the brown eyed girl, his forearms resting on the edge of her desk, inches away from her ring covered hand.

“Can I borrow it?” He drawled slowly, teasing the words out as though he was talking to a child.

El pulled a HB pencil from her pencil case and carefully handed it to the smirking boy crouching in front of her desk. He took it between his nimble fingers, leaving El with a mediocre “thanks” as she leaned on her hand watching him amble back to his desk, back into the bubble of Troy and his posse. 

 

“Steve does everything so loudly, I swear I can hear him crunching on his cornflakes in the morning or banging the shower taps when he decides to wash” El said to her Will, raising her voice above the crisp autumn wind and the shrill whistle from the sport teacher. Since their school was one of the top sporting schools in the state, physical education was compulsory up until year 11. Upon reaching senior year one could be free of the perils of 5km cross country runs in the rain and forgetting to bring a PE kit to school. 

For now though, El and Will were two twig like figures standing with their arms crossed on the edge of the football field, pretending they weren’t shivering their shorts off, while their athletic class mates ran around after a weirdly shaped ball. 

Will and El watched Troy dive to the ground to get the ball, grassing his knees in the process. Wherever the ball was, it could be guaranteed Troy would be there too, he bore many resemblances to a dog actually. Not to insult dogs or anything.

“Oi mullet head” ah the lovely Troy Harrington jeer, you could always count on him to produce such an attractive sound. El and Will observed sympathetically as the football gunned straight for Tyler Green’s nose, colliding into his face with a winded “oof.” Will winced on behalf of Tyler “remind we why we are playing football again” El was just about to reply when she was stopped by some aggravated yelling. 

“Jane Hopper get out on the field!”

Someone certainly had their knickers in a twist. El looked to Will for help “looks like your teammate is down, you’re the only one to take his place” she squeezed her eyes shut and groaned “nooo” Will was laughing while patting his friend on the back. Something that sounded like a cat being stepped on, echoed across the grounds and El who was shrugging off her denim jacket, took the noise as a cue to trudge out onto the football field. 

Dustin called it the walk of doom. He was pretty bang on with that statement. El’s legs felt like lead as she walked over the grass and picked a spot that seemed like the most pointless place to stand. Then she waited, waited for the mania to begin, and it did, thankfully however, it all occurred well away from El’s safe spot. The ball flew into the hands of mobile jocks as the team El was on scored time and time again. Pretty soon she picked up the basics of the game, not that she was trying to, its just that tying and re-tying the laces on her Converse shoes wasn't very stimulating.

Everything was going quite well actually, El felt that she was really immersing herself into the team, her standing their not doing anything was proving to be a valuable contribution in helping the team to score. That was until, some absolute idiot had decided to ignore the fact that she was meant to be invisible, and passed the ball to her. Of course El had no choice but to catch the ball without breaking a nail, and once she did, she then proceeded to run off with it like a headless chicken. She zipped past lunging defenders, and also defenders who were lying on the ground and groaning because they’d just been bulldozed by doggy boy. El crossed the line and Will cheered while her teammates kept yelling “touchdown” “touchdown!” The last thing she heard amongst the conflict of noise was “god damn it Hopper!” Before a force from behind knocked her to the ground. 

 

Fuzzy, her brain box felt fuzzy. Tingly, her legs felt like they had pins and needles but it wasn’t bad it was kind of nicey. Then something brushed her shoulder, she had a shoulder cool. Something was warm on her arm, some noise was breaking through her ears. It all felt very confusing, then slowly the fuzziness ebbed away and El’s clouded vision gave way to a head of floppy brown hair, and Troy Harrington’s face. 

“You’re meant to touch the ball to the ground Hopper, for fucks sake” she looked at him as another voice broke the sound barrier 

“You had better take Miss Hopper to the sick bay” Troy’s voice piped up 

“oh no no, it’s fine she’s okay real-“ 

“I didn’t ask for your opinion Harrington, because quite frankly no one cares okay? so go” El wished he hadn’t said that however the look on Troy’s face, the one where he looked like he had just stepped on dog shit, was enough to perk El up a bit as she was hoisted up and hauled over the football player’s shoulder to go and see the nurse.

“So can I go?” He was shifting on the heels of his feet, adopting his politest manner for the situation as he addressed the nurse. The nurse looked to El who shifted on her elbows and moved her leg so she could reach out and kick Troy. He turned around in surprise and looked at her 

“what was that for?” El adjusted the hoop in her ear 

“can you tell your stoner friend to please give my pencil back as soon as possible?”

“What?” He asked, his mouth hanging open “Mike?” 

“Yeah” El confirmed, wondering why the heck she just asked him to do that? Because Troy was 100% a samaritan who spent his spare time giving back people’s pencils. Troy gave her a look as El continued,

“And uh, I’m sorry you had to waste your PE lesson taking me here “ Troy continued giving her his looky look, seriously, how were him and Stacey not bffs.

“What, why are you apologising?”

“Because I’m sorry you thick brick” she got up off the bench and brushed past him, heading for the exit before pausing, “and thanks” she finished before strolling out.

 

El’s grass covered shoe clapped loudly against the hallway floors. The light from outside danced through the windows and across the hundreds of lockers. She watched the strips of sunlight adorn the school corridor, then it all started to spin, and to her surprise the whole hallway felt like it was rotating.

Crappity crap.

Leaving the nurses office had not been a good idea. Everything was spinning in and out with diamonds of colour, rainbows bounced off the walls this psychedelic hallucination was just like something out of the Magical Mystery Tour Documentary. El stumbled in a random direction trying to make sense of what was happening while cursing John Lennon and his damn walrus. Anxiety was creeping up on all of her senses and out of nowhere El found herself running. For the second time that day she was on a mad path of chicken-like running, only this time she felt like she’d left her brain with Troy back at the nurses office.

Why was everything moving, why did those 2D rainbow beads of light disappear every time she got close to them, why-

“Oof” El felt herself fall into something that definitely wasn’t 2D. She hoped with all her might that this particular not 2D object could be Dustin or Lucas or Max or Will or even Steve, so that they could save her from this psychedelic weirdness.

“What the fuck?”

El watched helplessly as Mike Wheeler turned to face the imbecile who crashed into him. His face was marked with a dark expression of uninterest.

Rainbows glimmered around him like holographic reflections “rainbows, bong lord” El mused out loud then continued “stardust on your face…cute” Why was everything so muddled, ahhh this was so so bad, she just wanted to wake up except the problem was this was no bad dream, the person in front of her was very real. And very tall. And very intimidating.

“Why rainbows?”

Good question, why indeed, why was the world round, why were his eyes so dark and intense and magnetic. It was all because Troy had mocked Tyler and then thrown the ball at his face, meaning El had to go on, meaning she didn’t know the rules and was bowled over and given a mild concussion meaning she accidentally called Mike Wheeler cute. Tyler Green and his damn mullet. And that was the last thing El remembered before she blacked out for the second time that day.


	2. Shut up khaki pants

“wHoa EL ARE YOU OKAY?”

“Shut up khaki pants!”

“What happened Will?”

“PE class”

“Ahh is she going to be okay?”

“Sweetie, Jane will be okay, she just got mildly concussed”

El’s ears pricked up to the sound of her friend’s voices, there was Lucas’ concerned and quite loud voice, Max hissing at him, Dustin wanting to know the story, Will calmly answering and someone else whom El presumed to be the nurse. She could feel her senses and the nerves in her arms and legs starting to wake up as she squinted her eyes open, listening in to her friend’s conversation. The fiery red head and Dustin each took Will’s elbows as they prised an answer out of El's partner in crime and partner in mediocre sporting efforts.

“Well we were playing football for some reason, and El gets called on, then she doesn’t realise she has a touch down and has to, you know, touch down and then she gets bowled over. Anyways coach yells at Troy and the next thing I know he’s looking all grumpy and he’s hoisting her over his shoulder. Literally like some sort of El backpack”

“That’s no way to hold a lady, I’m going to whip Harrington’s ass” Dustin chided before Lucas socked him on the shoulder , El's mouth curved into a smile and Will continued,

“So anyways I ditch PE and go to the nurses office to see if she’s okay but all I can find is Troy standing there looking like his usual dumbass self, I really think he has a trace of the goldfish gene, anyway, and the nurse tells me that El has gone and that she seemed quite energetic and overall pretty good.”

“…and?” Max asked skeptically,

“…and I was like cool” Will replied, El almost laughed at his deadpanned idiocy.

“Well Will the wise, tell me how did she end up back in here then?” Max pressed, her arms folded across her chest.

“Uhm, oh yeah so I was walking through the hallways and then I turned a corner and saw her and Mike and then she sort of just fell “

“What? Did Wheeler catch her?” 

“Well yeah. Obviously, I know its a long way to the ground for him but I’m pretty sure its not like he’s incapable of having reflexes. If he sees someone falling he’s not just gonna be like, wow I wonder why this person is falling to the ground, they are about to hit their head wow I’m just gonna stand here like a piece of wood you know.”

Lucas eyed Will “are you defending him. Well where is the hero then?”

“He seemed a bit shell shocked”

Max scoffed “Its not like he doesn’t have girls falling at his feet literally all the time, the idiot didn’t even know to-“

“Actually he brought me here” El said sitting up and rubbing her bare arms. The four of her friends turned around in surprise as El gave them a sideways smile. Quick as a flash El was ambushed by Dustin and Max furiously hugging her.

“Thank God you’re okay” Max noted as she let go of her brown haired friend. Will stepped forward,

“Hey El, I would’ve taken you here myself but Mike had already hit the halls, thankfully I so selflessly took the liberty of bringing your jacket” El grinned as she took the denim jacket.

“S’okay William, we’ve only got one and a half more terms of PE till we never have to engage in dangerous football activities ever again.”

Lucas bowled Dustin over in a lovely demonstration of a football tackle. “Hey shit head watch it” Dustin yelped as he hit the ground with his friend on top of him. Max side eyed the wrestling match on the floor before taking her friend’s arm,

“Shouldn’t you be getting on home?”

El looked into Max’s concerned blue eyes and shrugged, “actually I feel fine”

“Really?” Will asked curiously, sitting down on the sick bay bed next to El.

El nodded “really” she looked towards the school nurse for conformation. The nurse eyed the girl who had made a quick recovery, there were no pressing issues so,

“Maybe I’ll just ring your parents in case okay?”

El’s hand rose to her forehead “ahh, actually Dad’s at work, and he works in the city so uh”

“Is there anyone else I can call?”

El was just about to reply when Dustin’s head popped up from the floor, “Harrington, he lives at your house half the time anyway” He turned to the nurse “Steve Harrington, call Steve”

 

 

The phone line crackled, “Janey can you please tell me what’s going on?” El grinned into the receiver at the sound of Steve’s perky voice,

“I got bowled over in phys ed, it’s no biggie”

“So why are you on the phone to me?”

“I’m in the sick bay and it was recommended that I talked to a trusted guardian about the situation. Lucky you”

“Hey, enough with the sarcasm young lady” Steve had his mum pants on alright “why are you in the sick bay?”

“Mildly concussed was the report” El replied nonchalantly, hearing Steve’s indignant squawk she pressed on “but realistically the report should be: suffering from major embarrassment due to the fact your brother had to carry me off the football field and I may or may not have accidentally fainted on Michael Wheeler. But it’s no biggie”

“That’s it I’m coming to pick you up”

“Now, now is that really necessary? You’re working anyway, you told me you had to go out of town today which means you would have to drive all the way here. Don’t worry Stevie its all good over here”

She could hear him grumbling in defeat “well, I’ll pick you up after school okay?”

El grinned “thanks Stevie Wonder”

“Take care” and with that the call ended and El sighed with relief. Dustin peered at his friend “and the verdict is?”

“We’re all getting a lift home from school”

There was all round high fives for that.

 

 

It was lunchtime and the day was dragging on like a double maths lesson. But life was alright, El was slumped in a chair in the corner of the library. Her homework was sprawled across the table and her fingers were drumming against the underside of the desk as she looked out the window. This was the best spot in the library, it had a window seat with a view of the trees out the back of the school and the blue sky. Normally El made a job of avoiding the library, however today her and Max were in there to ‘work on their project’. Ironically El had no clue about the project, also apparently said project was invisible as Max had come equipped with nothing but a set of 20 questions for her mildly concussed friend.

“So…Wheeler. Has he offered you any of his dope yet?”

El side eyed friend, “nope. Was really hoping he’d show me his stash”

Max leant back in her chair and raised an eyebrow “mhm, so you called him cute?”

“Now that was unintentional. It seems at that point in time my brain was feeling very open to sharing” El reflected.

“According to William you called him cute meaning that's what your brain was thinking meaning you're into Wheeler and maybe you used you concussion as an excuse to confess how you felt about him because you've been crushing on him for the past two years”

El balanced on the legs of the chair in thought, she actually looked like she was contemplating Max's over analysed thought torpedo into El's inner feelings. "I just said what I was thinking right at that moment, it was like those sessions where you sit and share your thoughts with people like Alcoholics Anonymous or something"

"So you're an alcoholic? Maybe you could take him along to one of your meetings. That'd be a real cute first date, so how are you gonna ask him?"

The legs of El's chair dropped back onto the library carpet "let us please take a moment to slow down please for the sake of my bulldozed brain" 

Max rolled her eyes, "cmon I'm serious El, I'm just helping you get some guy action into your life, you've never exactly shown a heap of interest and now, well you have a thing for Wheeler"

El rested on her forearms and leant towards her friend "Max, I merely stated that he was cute, because he is. It's fact. Just like the fact that Brad is also cute and so is Troy and Nick Rhodes is a god. Fact."

Her friend wrung her hands and sighed "Duran Duran are literally sex on legs. I can't believe I used to think this new wave stuff was crap. But hey you're changing the topic"

El swept her books into the crook of her arm and rose out of her chair "I'll call you tonight" Max kicked her vans to the ground "we've got some talking to do Elle Belle" El turned back once more "oh and please warn me if we are gonna talk about boys. Gotta make sure Steve isn't moping around trying to catch a dash of high school gossip" and with that El blew her friend a kiss and strolled out of the library.

Afternoon sunlight wafted through the homeroom of 11SR, teenagers sprawled across the wooden desks basking in the sleepy Thursday afternoon. El sat at her usual desk, squinting at her demo dog/Will's dog, Hetty. 

"Jane are you okay?"

El looked up into the pretty face of Jennifer Hayes. She was a cheerleader eg part of the Troy adoration posse, however that didn't mean she wasn't nice. She always talked to El, and besides she didn't have a screechy voice so there was no reason why El didn't mind engaging in her daily chit chat.

"Mhm, Jen does this look like a dog?"

Jennifer craned her neck to see what El was gesturing to with her pencil, before walking around the desk to view the carving from over El's shoulder,

"I see it I think. It helps when you squint" the cheerleader's blond locks cascaded down her shoulders and the spaghetti straps of her top as she squinted at El's carving.

"It was meant to be Will's dog but then that happened" El bit her lip, unsure of how to fix her dilemma. Jennifer patted her shoulder,

"I think its an artistic impression of Will's dog, very unique" she smiled sweetly then upon the call of her name, sauntered over to another desk. El was left with a few moments of peace before Jen returned, this time with Michael Wheeler at her arm. 

"Look Mike, Jane carved the dog, isn't it amazing? I think it's beautiful" Jennifer gushed as Mike smirked into her hair,

"Mhm yeah"

El leaned on her hand and continued her study of Hetty, it was a difficult task, made harder by the fact that she was trying to block out Mike practically making out with Jennifer's neck in front of her desk, anyway, maybe she needed to add a collar or-

"I like it, maybe add some rainbows" 

El looked up at the sound of his voice, his dark eyes twinkled like the freckles on his face. She gave him a sideways grin as he winked at her and walked off with his arm around Jennifer's waist. 

El was just starting the fiddly carving of a rainbow next to Hetty's ear when Troy came ambling over, what was her table, a fucking mother's meeting hall? She looked up,

"Are you lost Troy?"

He smirked, "delighted to see you too Hopper, after I spent phys ed waiting around playing nurse because you don't know how to sport"

El looked back down and resumed her carving "I already gave you an apology, now what, you want me to write you a eulogy?"

"You're hilarious you know" he replied taking the carving scissors out of her hands as he continued "car park after school. If you're late then too bad"

This time she looked up "Late?"

"I'm taking you home. Steve's idea not mine. Cool?" His knuckles drummed against the edge of her desk impatiently. 

"Cool" El replied nonchalantly taking the scissors out of his hand. Thinking no more about the days weird turn of events El sighed on behalf of her friends who were not in fact going to be getting a free ride home, then she sat back and resumed her masterpiece. 

 

 

“You call this being on time Hopper?” Troy drawled as he lazily got off the bonnet of his car,

“Sorry” El stared at the shiny red paintwork as she thought about how she had just had to race out of the school to avoid getting ambushed by her huffy friends who were expecting a ride home. Dustin was surely going to phone the Jim Hopper household that night and chew off the ears of whichever poor soul picked up the receiver.

“1965 Mustang convertible” Troy recited dreamily as his hand coasted the paintwork of the car, his whole boyish demeanour changed once he got talking about his precious wheels.

A smile tugged at El’s mouth, 

“Cool”

The footballer returned from the world of engines and automobiles as he looked down at the girl in front of him, 

“Don’t scratch the paintwork” 

That was a cue for El to stage a fall onto the car, narrowly missing the door handle with her nose.

“Jane!” Troy yelped. She thought his floppy hair was going to stand on end in shock of the girlish noise that had squeaked from his throat. 

She looked at him innocently, a wry smile hovering on her lips, “sorry Trudy”

“Just get in the car Hopper” Troy growled pushing the brunette into the front seat, before stomping off to start the ignition. El assumed they were just sitting in the car waiting for the engine to warm up so Troy would have enough power to rev out of the school gates and show off his jerky status. As it turned out, El’s assumptions had been right. Troy released the clutch and slammed the accelerator as they skidded out of school, El not letting go of the dashboard until they reached the end of the street.

“What” Troy asked, in reply to El’s stony gaze.

“Nothing” she countered, folding her arms over her chest.

Troy coasted through the streets, classically over the speed limit, his face fixed into a charming smirk. El hadn’t even noticed that he wasn’t exactly headed in the direction of her house until they reached the other side of town.

“Troy…where are we going?”

“Home” he replied breezily, 

El quirked an eyebrow, wondering if he had just miraculously forgotten where the chief’s house was or if he had a really bad sense of direction but then again, he was part dog, so surely he knew his way around town.

“Home?” She asked curiously,

he turned to look at her, 

“home as in my home, duh”


	3. Trudy

Tree tops glowed golden in the afternoon sunlight as a gentle breeze blew through the streets of the Hawkins suburbs. Kids cruised past brick houses, bicycle bells tinkling as they hollered at their friends. This was home ground for the majority of the teenagers at Hawkins high school. Will and El were neighbours, and everyone lived within cycling distance of each other (how convenient for Lucas and Max). The corner store on the edge of Fifth Street marked the transition into the Northern side of town. The side of town where family streets gave way to sprawling avenues lined by century old oak trees, and mansions with wraparound porches.

 

 

Far away from familiar residential streets, on the ground floor of the gleaming Harrington household, sat Jane Hopper, perched uncomfortably on the edge of a bar stool. Her ‘ride home’ was presently devouring the contents of the pantry, leaving his guest to ponder the whereabouts of Steve Harrington, and also, how she was going to get home. Troy had told her that he saw no reason to go out of his way to drop El off at her house when he had an episode of MTV he desperately needed to watch.

She eyed the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, 4:01pm. What a surprise. Only 4 minutes had passed since El had last checked. She fiddled with the zips on her bag and pulled out her homework. The sunlight filtering in through the open French doors caught the bronze strands of her hair, as she bent over her book trying to solve a maths problem.

 

'An object moves in a straight line with position given by S(t) = t3-11t2+24t Metres from origin, where t is in seconds (t is greater than or equal to 0). Find v(t)',

“Jane what the hell is this, no homework in the kitchen, it ruins the juju” Troy said peering down at her book. El shrugged and continued writing.

“Wait this is what we’re doing in calc at the moment right, v(t) is the velocity function, which means…uh”

“Find the derivative of s(t)” El commented without looking up from her book. Troy’s eyebrows furrowed as he sat down next to her,

“And that is why I don’t like maths” he said resting his forearms on the cool countertop. El nudged him with her elbow and pointed at the function with her pencil,

“See s(t) right? If you’re trying to find the velocity function of s(t) you find s’(t)” He continued looking at her blankly so she gestured down to her page again “when a function has the little dash, that means find the derivative, and if you find the derivative of s’(t) then you get v(t) ie the velocity function”

“Sounds deliciously fun, why don’t we find the derivative later Janey” El cocked an eyebrow at his play on her name,

“Okay” she reluctantly agreed, sliding off the bar stool and carefully stepping onto the polished tiles. Troy sniggered. Her battered Converse looked minuscule next to his fresh Nikes as she looked up at his football player form,

“house tour Harrington?”

Troy shrugged “whatever, but don’t go all whiney on me and start swooning over the rose bushes or something”

"yeah sure sure" she muttered, following him out into the hall.

 

 

“Nice shed you got here”

El noted, her hands on her hips as she marvelled at the extravagant mansion in front of them. They were walking through the hedge trimmed pathways that decorated the grounds of the home. Troy’s lip curved into a smile,

“Not bad huh Janey?” El paused to sniff the velvety petals of a blooming rose. Her nose brushed the flower as she inhaled with delight.

“I love it” she murmured softly.

El had never been a flower fanatic but damn those roses smelt so good, she found her mind being taken away to a land of cotton bud clouds and bed sheets ornated with sweet rose petals. Whoa, when had she turned into such a romantic, if Max found out she’d never hear the end of it.  _Oh woe be gone, where art thou Prince Charming? Kiss me princey boy._ El ignored Max's voice in her head.

"You're swooning over the roses"

El's eyes snapped open as she side eyed the disruption,

"what's wrong with having a little appreciation for the finer aspects of nature?"

Troy plucked a flower head from the bush and winced pulling his thumb back and sucking on it,

"Roses have thorns Trudy" she pointed out helpfully before he handed her the flower and inspected his thumb

"I reckon nature has much finer things to offer, certainly finer things to inhale" El rolled her eyes,

"pothead."

She smoothed the pink velvety petals that brushed across her palms and smiled up at him

"but thanks for the flower though" he waved her off and continued kicking the gravel on the garden path.

 

They were in the garage and Troy had spent the last 15 minutes going to great lengths to give El an in depth description of the ins and outs of an exhaust pipe. After the first ten minutes she'd gone to lean lightly against the side of his car and he'd gone mad, fussing over his car with a cloth and huffing like a wolf. You'd think she'd driven his car into a shopfront or something. Troy had fetched another cloth and wiped the door before continuing his explanation. They'd ended up in the hall at the bottom of a sprawling staircase before they finally moved from the topic of cars. Troy's enthusiasm had evidently rubbed off on El as she began to share her dream cars with him. She was just in the middle of describing how she wanted to drive across the peninsula in a green 1964 Holden EH when her gaze fixed on the grand set of stairs before them, her mouth dropping open in what was of course a very attractive dopey look. Troy followed her line of vision to the steps,

"uh yeah, those are the stairs"

"the stairs?! That gleaming ascend is fit for a princess"

"I ain't no princess" El stopped gaping and turned to face him, smiling amusedly

"yeah sure Trudy"

He scowled then raised an eyebrow as El slowly lowered herself to the ground until she was in a squatting position.

"I didn't know you were religious" Troy sneered, she shushed him, folding her hands under her chin,

"you realise this whole scene is the perfect place to take prom photos. It's magical"

Troy groaned "are you serious? You should work in the prom planning business, you know those people who print those crappy frames for prom photos that say a mAgicAl niGht"

El slipped out a giggle "shut up" he lowered himself so he was bent down beside her

"no seriously, first you have an orgasm at the scent of my mother's roses and then you fall to your knees in prayer at the sight of a few wooden steps. I'm legitimately worried I've let a hopeless romantic into my house" a faint blush rose into her cheeks. Was she really that obvious? It's just that she couldn't wait for the day when she fell in love. You know to do all those cute things and shit. But when the heck was that day going to come? She was 17 and she'd never even had a boyfriend. Troy said something but she didn't quite register he had been speaking to her until a large hand waved in front of her face,

"hell-o, earth to Hopper" she looked at him, eyes hazy

"huh?"

"Fucks sake are you gonna faint again?!"

El snapped back to reality and levelled his gaze "what? No, course not"

"well anyways I was just asking why Steve hangs around your place all the time."

She sat down and crossed her legs on the tiled floor "he works for my dad, and they're kind of close, I mean my dad looks out for him and helps him and stuff. I guess once my dad started working in the city he asked if Steve could hang around a bit, you know look out for me or something. Dad works there five days a week and he leaves real early and comes back later, I don't really get to see him that much."

Troy sat down Indian style in front of her "huh. Guess it makes sense. You guys seem close, he talks about you a lot."

El smiled softly "yeah, I've never had any siblings, I guess to me, he's kind of like a big brother figure"

"well he IS my big brother" Troy replied.

"Are you guys close?"

He shrugged "when he's home we'll go for a drive or watch something together, I guess I feel like I don't see him much"

"well living in this big house you could easily not see another would for weeks"

"not far from the truth. My parents are rarely home, and when they are, they fight with Steve, they're always picking on him. It's no wonder he doesn't spend much time here"

El looked sideways at the boy next to her who was gazing at the tiled flooring "I'm sorry, that sucks"

"I get the house to myself, it's not so bad" he laughed dryly.

"Troy?"

"Mhm"

"if you ever, I mean...well, you can always come to mine, if you need or something, Steve is always there as well"

Troy laughed "me, go to your house, Jane Hopper's house?"

She eyed him "I'm serious. You're always welcome."

He continued laughing but it was more soft, light-hearted then he grabbed her arms and hoisted her up

"I think our episode of MTV is calling."

 

Half an hour later, the two were leaned against the couch watching the music video for Thriller when El asked if she could borrow the phone, Troy waved her off in the direction of the hall. She picked up the receiver and dialled until a familiar loud voice responded

"hello?"

"Hey Max"

"El! Dude I've been calling your house for like the past five minutes, why didn't you pick up?"

"Uhm, cause I'm not home"

"library? With Steve?"

"Not exactly"

El could hear Max chewing the end of her pen in thought then came the excited squeal

"you're with Wheeler!" "What?" "I knew it, he took you in his car after school and you went sightseeing and made out!"

El was glad Max couldn't see her face as she blushed furiously "No!! Max, seriously I'm at Troy's house"

"Uhm okay, so you went for the bong lord's best friend"

El groaned and she heard Max laugh excitedly at the other end "cmon Ellie dish, why are you at the football captains house this evening?"

El leaned her shoulder against the wall "booty call" she deadpanned then upon hearing Max's squawk she burst into giggles "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Steve was out on a field trip so he told Troy to take me home"

"yeah cause the Harrington mansion is totally 'home'"

Max quipped sarcastically and El laughed "what do you expect, he had an episode of MTV to watch" El could practically hear Max's eye roll as she muttered

"boys." 

The red head continued "did you know what Lucas did today?"

El smiled "what did he do? Football tackle you?"

Max giggled "no, he only does that when we're alone" It was El's turn to roll her eyes as Max continued the story "well we were at the mall today after school and I told him he should look for clothes. Anyways he was being all grouchy but eventually he agreed, saying he needed a new t-shirt. So we go into Target and he finds a few shirts but when he tries them on he says they don't show off his buff figure enough" El snorted "and then just when I go back to the change rooms with another shirt I see him hanging around the pants section, and then he gets all excited because he's found a pair of pants his size for sale. So he zips off and buys them without showing me, then once we're outside the shop he gives me a peek into the shopping bag. You'll never believe what kind of pants they were"

El gripped the receiver already trying not to laugh as Max grumbled,

"they were fucking khaki pants"

El burst into a fit of giggles that lasted for so long that Troy wondered if she was having an asthma attack. Once El finally recovered, heart on her chest she whispered into the receiver

"Max? Are you still there?"

Max giggled "uh huh, but are you all there, after your fainting session with Wheeler?"

El shuddered at the memory "oh holy moly that was so embarrassing" she muttered,

"perfect way to get him to notice you"

"Max!! Stop insisting that I have a thing for Michael Wheeler" El spoke loudly, realising too late that the boy in the next room obviously heard that statement.

Max laughed "whatever"

El sighed and spoke quieter "he was really nice about it Max"

"yeah?"

"When I bumped into him in the hallway and I was mumbling all this random stuff-"

"calling him cute and saying his freckles looked like stardust?" Max asked innocently

"Will told you all that?" El asked incredulously

"oh honey, surely you know I would have found out anyway"

"I'm gonna steal William's darts" El grumbled as her friend laughed and El continued "back to the story, he asks me 'why rainbows?' But it's not in a mean way, it's curious and like he was gently teasing me, anyway then I got thinking and my mind went Ito overdrive and I fainted."

"So you fainted at the delicious sight of Michael Wheeler"

"no. Dude as soon as I walked out of the nurses office I felt like I was on LSD or something, it was so weird."

"Druggo. So what happened next?"

"Well, I sort of came around and I could feel myself swaying and my head gently brushing against something and then I realised I was looking at the roof and he was holding me in his arms. Not like a backpack, but legit like carrying me like I was a princess ( _Uh oh get away romanticness)_. And then he said something to the nurse and he sounded so worried and confused and she was hovering at him and then he put me down on the bed and he was so gentle Max"

El could tell Max was thinking,

"why'd he zoom off then?"

El shrugged "I dunno, maybe he felt out of place, like he didn't know what to do. If he'd stayed, what would he have done? It's not like we really know each other"

"that could change" Max said mischievously and El laughed

"oh, stop you" she scolded.

"You think he's hot" the redhead said confidently

"mhm, he is cute" El admitted,

"I'm glad you've come to your senses"

"but I'm not into stoners and I'm not into him" El protested,

Max's giggles erupted from the receiver "oh Elle Belle, so naive, your time will come! Got to dash, love youuu" her friend blew a kiss through the phone line and El blew one back muttering a "bye" before hanging up.

"Whose to say Wheeler is a stoner?" A voice drawled from the doorway, El froze, slowly turning to face the amused face of Troy Harrington,

"eavesdropping?" She managed,

he smirked "you weren't too quiet Janey. So you've got the hots for Mikey huh?"

She huffed and covered her face with her hands,

"no I don't" she croaked,

"he was soOo gentle Max" he mocked, laughing in his stupid floppy haired way. El shot him with a fierce glare before reaching out and socking his shoulder

"oww" the footballer feigned hurt as El brushed past him muttering

"dickhead."

 

 

The edges of the earth glowed orange as the setting sun’s rays streamed through the open window of Troy's bedroom, strips of light falling onto the heads of El and Troy, bent over her maths book as they scrutinised a calculus problem. The brown haired boy growled in frustration as he flung his pencil across the room.

El patted his arm “hey it’s a dumb problem. We can work through it tomorrow or um” her nose scrunched up as she struggled to understand the difficult mathematical problem

"or not. You could just ask Mike?"

He leaned back against the bedframe “fucking calculus, fucking Wheeler and his smart ass”

El smiled softly at his grumbles as she packed up her and Troy’s pencils.

"You want to come with me so Wheeler can explain it to the both of us?" He asked cheekily as she stammered some excuse about having extra homework to do.

They strolled down the wide staircase, El with her school bag on her back as they headed to the front door. The two teens halted at the bottom of the stairs as they were met with the figure of none other than Steve Harrington blocking the front door. He peered down at them, well he peered down at El but technically looked evenly at Troy, the only thing stopping his younger brother from being taller than him, was Steve's hairsprayed hair. Never in his life had Steve expected to see his younger brother and El Hopper together in the same space, talking casually with each other. They stopped upon seeing him, if he wasn't playing the role of intimidating deputy, he would have laughed at the priceless surprised expressions on their faces. Steve cocked an eyebrow, 

"you two have got some explaining to do."

 

 

The radio hummed in the background playing some sloshy love song while Michael Wheeler drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. The silver Holden Gemini turned onto Mirkwood road and the boy slowed the vehicle down as he passed by the overgrown undergrowth and the familiar beat up letter box of the Byers' household. He reached the end of the street and pulled up near a bushy driveway, his eyebrows furrowing in a confused manner as he gazed at the recogniseable deputy's car, just visible through the twilight. He double checked the address Troy had given him, scrawled on the back of his hand and smirked, so this was where the notorious King Steve had been residing for the past few years. The front windows were lit with a warm glow, spilling through the gap in the drawn curtains, completely distracting the boy from the last name drilled above the letter box. He stuck a cigarette in the corner of his mouth as his long legs took him up the cabin steps and his face amusedly took in the ornaments adorning the porch and the comfortable lounge seat out the front complete with a fluffy pink pillow. Steve had clearly been channelling his inner decorator. He inhaled slowly while rapping his knuckles on the front door.

 

 

Steve's hands flew to his hips as his foot tapped against the wooden floorboards,

"well?"

El was recovering from the shock of seeing him there as she stumbled over her words "well uh"

Troy finally came to his senses and used his vocal cords "I took Jane here instead of home cause I had an episode of MTV that needed watching"

Steve scoffed "that was not what I asked you to do Troy boy"

El stifled a laugh at the nickname while Steve pointed a finger at his younger brother "you've got to think about your actions man" he gestured to his car with a wave of his head "in the car, now." Troy sulked off to his older brother's vehicle.

"And you!" Steve rounded on El as she looked at him "you've got to tell me all about your eventful day!"

She gave him a sideways grin "whatever" and spun on her heel to follow Troy to the car.

Hawkins' once resident high school King stood on the front steps of his childhood prison and ran a hand through his hair as he scrutinised the empty driveway. As per usual his parents weren't home, away on another 'work trip'. They came home about once a month and that was for a few days before they were off again, leaving their sons to their own devices. It had been like that for such a long time, both boys just became independent. While it was cool to be able to do whatever they wanted, it got lonely too, and as Steve looked into the car where El leaned forward from the back seat to talk to his brother excitedly, he realised he was quite glad to have the two of them around.

 

 

Standing in the centre of the Hopper households cozy living room, El felt slightly self-conscious about the difference between her house and the Harrington's. The first time Steve had come to their house he'd looked around, then after poking his nose in the pantry he'd declared that he was going to cook dinner. Steve had made himself at home pretty quick. She waited patiently, carefully observing Troy's reaction. He looked around and took in the surroundings then hovered sort of at the edge of the living room. She had to coax him to sit on the couch, but after a while he eased up as Steve gave them some carrot sticks and crackers and they got stuck into the cartoon on the television screen.

Curled into Steve's side El almost missed the knock on the door, but she didn't and a smile lit up her face as she sprung up to open it, wondering why her dad was home so early. She flicked the latch and pulled open the door, maybe he'd gotten off earlier and decided to surprise them, maybe he brought Chinese takeaway or...El's train ride of thoughts presently crashed as she stared at the occupant on her porch. Where there should have been a thick wool skin coat there was a navy Sherpa jacket, where there should have been ranger boots there were docs, where there should have been a faded brown hat, there was a messily combed tangle of Raven locks, and where there should have been the gruff stance of Jim Hopper, there was the handsome face of Michael Wheeler. Standing under the luminescent glow of the porch light in all his stardust freckled glory. El's jaw nearly dropped off.

"Hey"

His low voice sent her spine tingling and she watched like a hopeless fool as a curl of smoke drifted from the corner of his mouth, hOly fuCk.

She blinked "hey, uhm"

He moved closer, leaning against the doorframe and El could smell his cologne and the faint scent of cigarettes

"Troy doesn't usually bring girls to our joint" he murmured and she paused as she put two and two together realising that the younger Harrington must have redirected his soirée to her house. Just brilliant. Also, why was she smiling like a dope?

"Stevie Wonder took it upon himself to bring Troy's plans to my house" El managed.

"The Steve Harrington?" He mused,

El nodded "Farrah Fawcett hairspray and all"

She bit her lip as she watched Mike roll his cigarette between his fingers before his eyes flicked over to her with an amused look,

"does he have his mum pants on today?"

El giggled thinking about the weird events of the day and Steve squawking at her on the phone

"mhm" she replied smiling as she held out Hopper's ashtray.

"Thanks" his finger brushed against hers as he put out the smouldering tobacco. She smiled meekly stepping aside so he could enter the cabin. As he strode past, he patted his back pocket and gave her a wink

"don't look so worried, I've got the goods"

"cool" El replied pretending to know what he was talking about, before she shut the door with a bang and followed the long legged boy into her house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey it is boxing day and we get to see more of Steve and Mike yay!


End file.
